SRINAGAR: Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and across the globe are marking Black Day today to highlight the ongoing controversy surrounding the occupation of Jammu and Kashmir by India.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the observance commemorates the day in 1947 when Indian forces entered Jammu and Kashmir, allegedly contravening the partition plan and disregarding the wishes of the Kashmiri populace. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), in a statement from Srinagar, has called upon Kashmiris in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and worldwide to participate in Black Day activities. The APHC has also urged a complete shutdown in the occupied region.

The APHC leaders have appealed to the international community to engage in resolving the Kashmir dispute in line with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and relevant United Nations resolutions. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, protest rallies and seminars are scheduled at various administrative centers to condemn the Indian military’s actions of October 27, 1947, and the revocation of the region’s special status by the BJP-led government on August 5, 2019.

Officials, following instructions from the President and Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, will lead rallies in their jurisdictions. In Muzaffarabad, the state capital, a protest organized by the Kashmir Liberation Cell will be followed by a rally led by AJK Prime Minister Iftikhar Gilani.

Additionally, groups such as Pasban-e-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir, along with Kashmiri refugees, other Hurriyat organizations, and various political and religious groups, have arranged anti-India rallies and seminars to observe the day.